1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a device for filing and evacuating hollow organs in human and animal bodies, the said device being equipped with a suction valve adapted to be connected to a catheter or probe, the said suction valve being connected, by means of hoselines, with a storage tank for flushing liquids, and to at least one collector vessel.
2. Description of Prior Art
Various devices for flushing hollow organs in the human body, such as the stomach, intestines and bladder, are known in medicine. The bladder poses many problems, since fragments of calculus arising from lithotripsy, traces of tumour from the prostate or bladder after transurethral electrosection, and blood coagula from bladder tamponnade, must be removed therefrom.
Normal evacuation requires that the muscles in the wall of the hollow organ be capable of contracting, so that the organ is evacuated and no residue is left. This condition is met only in the case of a normal bladder, but not in the case of the stomach or intestine, or if the bladder is pathologically altered. Flushing is also inadequate for removing fragments of calculus arising from lithotripsy, traces of tissue after transurethral electrosection, and blood coagula from bladder tamponnade. Aspiration alone is unsuitable for removing such foreign bodies from the bladder.
There is no piece of equipment in clinical or practical use which meets these special clinical requirements. Furthermore, there is no known piece of equipment which can serve as an all-purpose unit. Aspiration units, such as water-jet pumps, vacuum bottles, and the like lead to a single evacuation of the hollow organ and to aspiration of the mucous membrane, and are therefore unsuitable for eliminating foreign bodies. Flushing of the stomach and the intestine by suction has the disadvantage that there is a considerable amount of dead space consisting of the volume of the hose inside and outside the body. When the funnel is filled, the air in this dead space is forced into the hollow organ and, when the said organ is evacuated, there is therefore some doubt as to whether what emerges is air or intestinal gas. Furthermore, the air and gases break up the column of liquid and halt the siphoning action. Even if the hose remains filled with liquid, the long hose causes oscillating flushing which is detrimental. Funnel-flushing also takes longer, adding to the patient's discomfort.
The so-called "balloon-evacuator" has been in use for about 100 years for eliminating fragments of calculus from the bladder after lithotripsy. The disadvantage of this is that the flushing fluid oscillates back and forth between the balloon and the bladder without being renewed. Thus any fragments of calculus, bacteria and blood are returned to the bladder each time the balloon is compressed, which is undesirable from the point of view of bladder cleaning and asepsis.
It has already been proposed to fill and evacuate the bladder in a continuous manner by means of an irrigator and a two-way instrument, with a collector vessel for fragments of calculus inserted into the outlet hose. Dividing the passage in the instrument into two, and inserting a viewing glass, restricts the inside diameter of the outlet duct, reduces very considerably the flow of flushing liquid and the ability to pass fragments of calculus and the like, and thus decreases the efficiency of the procedure.